DHAKA,
APRIL 29.
The Directors-General of the Border Security Force and the Bangladesh Rifles began talks here today on longstanding issues such as cross-border crimes, smuggling, killing and border tensions.

A 17-member delegation led by the BSF Director-General, Ajay Raj Sharma, is here for the five-day talks being held at the BDR headquarters.

The BDR Director-General, Major General M. Jahangir Alam, leads a 19-member home side. A BDR press release said that the talks began in a cordial atmosphere.

Talking to reporters earlier, Mr. Sharma said that the talks would focus on bilateral border issues.

``There are certain points of difference on some issues, but we are trying to narrow them down,'' he told a questioner.

Asked about the insurgency camps operating against Bangladesh, the list of which was handed to the Indian side at the last border talks, Mr. Sharma said they had found no trace of them.

On the Indian list of insurgent camps allegedly operating against India from Bangladesh, Mr. Alam said: ``We asked our sector commanders to examine the list, but we did not find a single camp within our territory.''

He said issues such as the uptrend in killings along the border, smuggling of small arms, smooth supply of electricity to Angorpota and Dahagram enclaves and erection of barbed-wire fences would be discussed.